Head rest cover



Dec. 10, 1963 A. STRUBLE ETAL 3,113,803

HEAD REST COVER Filed April 9, 1962 INVENTORS. MERRITT L. MOFF|TT,JR.

ALBERT STRUBLE Arrvs United States Patent 3,113,803 HEAD REST COVERAlbert Struble, 508 lirvington Road, Drexel Hill, Pa., and Merritt L.Mofiitt, Jr., 9 Weirwood Road, Radnor, Pa. Filed Apr. 9, 1962, Ser. No.186,182 7 Claims. (61. 297-220) This invention relates to a head restcover, particularly to a removable sanitary head rest cover for publicpassenger vehicle seats, also to a method of securing it in place, andhas for an object the provision of improvements in this art.

For the head rests of seats which are used by the public, as inaircraft, buses, railway cars and the like, it is very desirable toprovide exchangeable covers which can be quickly removed and replacedwhen desired. One type of cover which has been extensively used is acloth towel which is secured by a button-and-eye fastening, a snapfastening, or the like, one fastening element being on the towel and theother on the seat back. The towels have to be laundered between uses.

These towels are expensive to purchase and launder and their loss byunauthorized removal adds to the cost.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a low cost coverwhich is so inexpensive that it can economically be discarded after eachuse and replaced by a clean cover.

It is another object to provide a cover which can be very quicklysecured in place and which in normal use will strongly resistdisplacement by lateral movement but which can readily be pulled orpeeled off its securement, attachment or anchorage, means on the headrest.

In a preferred form of the invention a non-woven fabric, as of soft,strong, thin, flexible paper, is provided with openings over anattachment area which is pressed down upon a strip of stifi-strand hookpile fabric, such as that known as Velcro, so as to be securely attachedthereto in a manner to resist removal except by pulling or peeling itoff. The securement is aided by providing a nap on the back of the areaof securement and also within the holes and by pressing the paper downbetween the hook pile strands.

The objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparentfrom the following description of an exemplary embodiment, referencebeing made to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a seat back having secured thereon a headrest cover embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged section taken on line 2-2, of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a surface view of a sheet of non-woven fabric which forms thebody of the head rest cover;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a portion of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a greatly enlarged section taken on the line 5--5 of FIG. 4;and

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view similar to the top part of FIG. 1 showing ahead rest cover sheet being applied.

As shown in the drawings, a seat 10 has secured above and behind thehead engaged portion an attachment strip of Velcro pile fabric 11. Thismaterial is known and is essentially a hook or barb pile material andthe invention, through specifically referring to this material, is notlimited thereto. The hooks or barbs of this specific material are alloriented in the same direction and the material is secured to theupholstery covering of the seat so that the hooks are aligned with thevertical length of the seat back. Preferably the hooks are directedupward and backward. Some of the hook pile material available has hooksof random orientation and, of course, when this is used, there is noneed to take note of the orientation of the hooks of the cover securingstrip 11.

ice

It may be secured to the seat back upholstery in any suitable manner, asby sewing thereto, for example.

The seat back cover sheet is indicated as a whole by the numeral 12 and,as stated, is formed of a thin, tough, flexible material such as softfelted, body-unglazed paper. The top of the sheet 12 is provided wtih atransverse zone or area 13 at or near the upper edge which is formedwith a plurality of small elongated openings, slits or weakened portions14, each of a size to receive one or a few barb or hook pile strands 15.The hole elongation direction is across the seat back. Also the back ofthe cover sheet in the perforated zone 13 is formed with a raised nap16, as shown in FIG. 5. The holes 14 are not cut out cleanly but haveconsiderable nap material left therein, as shown at 17 in FIG. 5. Asshown in FIG. 6, the holes 14 are of such size, in width at least, inrelation to the size of the hook pile elements '15 that when a hook pileelement is pushed through a hole its hook element will usually engagethe back edge of the hole or will engage with the uncut nap material inthe hole. The holes are arranged in plural ranks both longitudinally andtransversely and are spaced closely together over the extensiveattachment zone. The sheet is of such thinness, flexibility, andstretchiness that it can be pressed down locally between the hook pileelements.

The remainder of the sheet may also have a raised nap on the back andthis is useful in resisting lateral shifting of the cover sheet when theseat upholstery itself is a stiff pile material, as is so frequently thecase.

The body of the cover below the area of securement 13 may be formed withany desired ornamentation which well may be groups of holes 18 similarto those in area 13. Then if the seat upholstery is of stiif pilematerial, the resistance to side slip is increased.

FIG. 6 illustrates a method of securing good attachment of the cover tothe hook pile strip 1 1. Here a comb 29 with thin teeth 21 is presseddown on the cover sheet and drawn across the perforated area 13 of thecover sheet in the direction of the length of the strip 11, that is, ina direction across the seat back. The direction of movement istransverse to the direction of the hooks or barbs and when the covermaterial is thus pressed down, the hooks engage in the nap on the backof the sheet and some enter the holes and engage the sides of the holesor the nap therein. The connection can also be made by rubbing down withthe fingers, especially by using the finger nails edgewise but thistakes longer and the securement is not as good as when a comb is used.

This results in a very strong attachment of the cover sheet to the hookpile strip. The attachment is so strong that the sheet cannot be removedby a pull in its plane and since this is the only line of pull normallyencountered in use, the sheet will be reliably retained in position.

However, the sheet can easily be separated by pulling it up in adirection transversely of the plane-of the attachment strip 11.

It is thus seen that the invention provides an improved, economical,sanitary, and disposable seat cover and an improved method of securingthe cover on a seat.

While one embodiment of the invention has been described for purposes ofillustration, it is to be understood that there may be variousembodiments and modifications within the general scope of the invention.

We claim:

1. A head rest cover comprising in combination, an attachment stripsecured on the seat back above the head and body engaging area of theseat back, said attachment strip having upstanding hook pile elements,and a removable cover sheet of strong, thin, flexible, felted materialsecured at an edge to said hook-pile attachment stri said cover sheet inthe zone of attachment being provided with small apertures of a size toreceive only a few hook 3 elements and into which apertures the hookpile elements enter and the edges of which are engaged by the pile hookelements, the apertures being arranged in a plurality of closely spacedranks both longitudinally and transversely throughout an extensiveattachment area.

2. A head rest cover as set forth in claim 1, in which the sheet in thezone of attachment is provided with a raised nap on the back which isengaged by said pile hook elements.

3. A head rest cover as set forth in claim 1, in which the sheet in thezone of attachment is provided with a nap on the back and in the holeswhich is engaged by said pile hook elements.

4. A head rest cover for securement to an attachment strip of stiffhook-pile material, which comprises a thin, tough, flexible, sheet offelted material having numerous closely spaced small holes arranged inplural ranks both longitudinally and transversely throughout the entirearea of an attachment zone overlying said attachment strip, the holesbeing of such size, at least in width, relative to the size of the hookpile elements as to permit passage 4 therethrough of the hook pileelements and to have their edges engaged by the hooks of the hook pileelements when pushed through the holes.

5. A head rest cover as set forth in claim 4 in which said sheet isformed with a nap on the back and in said holes in the attachment zone.

6. A head rest cover as set forth in claim 1, in which the sheet in thezone of attachment is provided with a nap in the holes which is engagedby said pile hook elements.

7. A head rest cover as set forth in claim 4 in which said sheet isformed with a nap in said holes in the attachment zone.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,497,698 Struble et al. Feb. 14, 1950 2,820,277 Forster Jan. 21, 19582,976,914 Miller Mar. 23, 1961 3,000,384 Piers Sept. 19, 1961 3,009,235De Mestral Nov. 21, 1961

1. A HEAD REST COVER COMPRISING IN COMBINATION, AN ATTACHMENT STRIPSECURED ON THE SEAT BACK ABOVE THE HEAD AND BODY ENGAGING AREA OF THESEAT BACK, SAID ATTACHMENT STRIP HAVING UPSTANDING HOOK PILE ELEMENTS,AND A REMOVABLE COVER SHEET OF STRONG, THIN, FLEXIBLE, FELTED MATERIALSECURED AT AN EDGE TO SAID HOOK-PILE ATTACHMENT STRIP, SAID COVER SHEETIN THE ZONE OF ATTACHMENT BEING PROVIDED